The History of Oktoberfest

This year, 2010, marks the 200th anniversary of the original Munich Oktoberfest! Learn how the famous event got its start and how the “Center of Universe” gives nod to the Bavarian tradition.

Oktoberfest is a 16-day festival held each year in Munich, Bavaria, Germany, running from late September to early October. The event has brought fame to Germany as the world’s largest fair, welcoming six million attendees every year, and spurring cities across the world to hold their own Oktoberfest celebrations, modeled after the Munich event. Seattle’s Fremont version takes place at the end of September to coincide with the dates of the large festival, and has been voted as one of the Top Ten Oktoberfests in the world by USA Today and Orbitz.

The first Oktoberfest occurred in Munich on October 18, 1810 to celebrate the marriage of the Crown Prince Ludwig and Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen. They organized a great horse race in commemoration of their union. A nod to the races, Fremont Oktoberfest features the Brew HA-HA 5K, the ultimate run, on foot, to the beer garden.

Traditions and activities have changed throughout the years to shape what Oktoberfest is today. Since 1950, the festival has opened with a twelve-gun salute and the tapping of the first keg of Oktoberfest beer at 12:00pm by the Mayor of Munich with the cry “o’zapft is” (“It’s tapped!”).

By 1960, Oktoberfest had taken the world by storm, and foreigners began to picture German men as only wearing the Sennerhut, Lederhosen, and the girls in Dirndl. The horse races ended in 1960, but the beer drinking traditions continue… in Munich, around the world and right here at Seattle’s Fremont Oktoberfest.